Riding for Ladies

by W. A. Kerr

With fetlocks elastic, feet sound and well grown;

A horse like unto this, with blood dam and blood sire,

To Park or for field may to honours aspire;

It's the sort I'm in want of—do you know such a thing?

'Tis the mount for a sportswoman, and fit for a queen!"

My unhesitating advice to ladies is Never buy for yourself. Having described what you want to some well-known judge who is acquainted with your style of riding, and who knows the kind of animal most likely to suit your temperament, tell him to go to a certain price, and, if he be a gentleman you will not be disappointed. You won't get perfection, for that never existed outside the garden of Eden, but you will be well carried and get your money's worth. Ladies are not fit to cope with dealers, unless the latter be top-sawyers of the trade, have a character to lose, and can be trusted. There has been a certain moral obliquity attached to dealing in horses ever since, and probably before, they of the House of Togarmah traded in Tyrian fairs with horses, horsemen, and mules. Should your friend after all his trouble purchase something that does not to the full realize your fondest expectation, take the will for the deed, and bear in mind "oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises."

With nineteen ladies out of every score, the looks of a horse are a matter of paramount importance: he must be "a pretty creature, with beautiful deer-like legs, and a lovely head." Their inclinations lead them to admire what is beautiful in preference to what is true of build, useful, and safe. If a lady flattered me with a commission to buy her a horse, having decided upon the colour, I should look out for something after this pattern: one that would prove an invaluable hack, and mayhap carry her safely and well across country.

Height fifteen two, or fifteen three at the outside; age between six and eight, as thoroughbred as Eclipse or nearly so. The courage of the lion yet gentle withal. Ears medium size, well set on, alert; the erect and quick "pricking" motion indicates activity and spirit. I would not reject a horse, if otherwise coming up to the mark, for a somewhat large ear or for one slightly inclined to be lopped, for in blood this is a pretty certain indication of the Melbourne strain, one to which we are much indebted. The characteristics of the Melbournes are, for the most part, desirable ones: docility, good temper, vigorous constitution, plenty of size, with unusually large bone, soundness of joints and abundance of muscle. But these racial peculiarities are recommendations for the coverside rather than for the Park. The eye moderately prominent, soft, expressive, "the eye of a listening deer." The ears and the eyes are the interpreters of disposition. Forehead broad and flat. A "dish face," that is, slightly concave or indented, is a heir-loom from the desert, and belongs to Nejd. The jaws deep, wide apart, with plenty of space for the wind-pipe when the head is reined in to the chest. Nostrils long, wide, and elastic, exhibiting a healthy pink membrane. We hear a good deal of large, old-fashioned heads, and see a good many of the fiddle and Roman-nosed type, but, in my opinion, these cumbersome heads, unless very thin and fleshless, are indicative of plebeian blood.

The setting on of the head is a very important point. The game-cock throttle is the right formation, giving elasticity and the power to bend in obedience to the rider's hand. What the dealers term a fine topped horse, generally one with exuberance of carcase and light of limbs, is by no means "the sealed pattern" for a lady; on the contrary, the neck should be light, finely arched—that peculiarly graceful curve imported from the East,—growing into shoulders not conspicuous for too high withers. "Long riding shoulders" is an expression in almost every horseman's mouth, but very high and large-shouldered animals are apt to ride heavy in hand and to be high actioned. Well-laid-back shoulders, rather low, fine at the points, not set too far apart, and well-muscled will be found to give pace with easy action.

He should stand low on the legs, which means depth of fore-rib, so essential in securing the lady's saddle, as well as ensuring the power and endurance to sustain and carry the rider's weight in its proper place. Fore-legs set well forward, with long, muscular arms, and room to place the flat of the hand between the elbows and the ribs. The chest can hardly be too deep, but it can be too wide, or have too great breadth between the fore-legs. The back only long enough to find room for the saddle is the rule, though, in case of a lady's horse, a trifle more length unaccompanied by the faintest sign of weakness, will do no harm. For speed, a horse must have length somewhere, and I prefer to see it below, between the point of the elbow and the stifle joint. Ormonde, "the horse of the century," was nearly a square, i.e. the height from the top of the wither to the ground almost equalled the length of his body from the point of the shoulder to the extremity of the buttock. Horses with short backs and short bodies are generally buck-leapers, and difficult to sit on when fencing. The couplings or loins cannot be too strong or the ribs too well sprung; the back ribs well hooped. This formation is a sign of a good constitution. The quarters must needs be full, high set on, with straight crupper, well rounded muscular buttocks, a clean channel, with big stifles and thighs to carry them. Knees and hocks clean, broad, and large, back sinews and ligaments standing well away from the bone, flat and hard as bands of steel; short well-defined smooth cannons; pasterns nicely sloped, neither too long nor too short, but full of spring; medium sized feet, hard as the nether millstone. If possible, I should select one endowed with the characteristic spring of the Arab's tail from the crupper. Such a horse would, in the words of Kingsley, possess "the beauty of Theseus, light but massive, and light, not in spite of its masses, but on account of the perfect disposition of them."